Five College Registration

Only students in good academic standing may enroll in a Five College course. Students may not register for more than eight credits at any one institution.

Traditional Students

Traditional students must be enrolled in a minimum of eight credits at Smith in any semester.

First-Year Students

First-semester first-year students must obtain the permission of the class dean before enrolling in a Five College course. Second-semester first-year students may take one course within the Five College system provided the student obtained a GPA of 3.0 or better in their first term at Smith. Requests made during early registration (November) will not be processed until add/drop (January). First-years may take two Five College courses with permission from the class dean. 

Ada Comstock Scholars

Ada Comstock Scholars - At least half of their total course load (credits) must be Smith courses.

1. Review Smith Guidelines for Five College Registration

2. Review Specific Policies for Smith Students Taking Courses Elsewhere

It is your responsibility to be familiar with the pertinent regulations of the host institution, including those for attendance, academic honesty, grading options, and deadlines for completing coursework and taking examinations. Smith students follow registration deadlines for Smith College except for change of grading option (P/F) as noted below.

• Amherst College
• Hampshire College
• Mount Holyoke College
• University of Massachusetts Amherst

3. Search for a course

Consult the Five College course guides to find a course at one of the other colleges. Be aware that some courses may not be open to Five College students, and not all Five College courses are approved for credit toward the Smith degree.

• Five College Course Guide
• Hampshire College
• Mount Holyoke College
• University of Massachusetts Amherst

4. Approval of Five College Courses

Courses will be reviewed by the registrar at the time the course request is submitted. We encourage requesting prior approval by submitting a course description or syllabus to the registrar's office for review. Normally only those courses falling within the scope of Smith's liberal arts curriculum will be approved.

Courses offered through UMass University Without Walls (UWW) are not part of the Five College Interchange.

5. Discuss course selection with your adviser

Your adviser must approve your schedule every semester, including Five College courses.

6. Submit Request through Workday

Submit your request using the "Request Five College Course" link on the Academics dashboard in Workday.
Step by step instructions are avaiable on the Workday Help Site

Early Registration (November/April)

Courses with prerequisites and/or restrictions require instructor permission. Note that the Five Colleges do not have access to student transcripts so prerequisites can only be waived with instructor permission. Instructor permission does not override enrollment limit during early registration.

Add/Drop (September/January)

All Five College Course requests not completed during or submitted after early registration require instructor permission. All new requests made during/add drop also require instructor permission. Permission should be submitted as a forwarded email to registrar@smith.edu from the instructor's school email address. Instructor permission must be dated no earlier than two weeks prior to the start of the semester.
*Note for UMass courses - instructor permission does not guarantee a seat in the course.

Please note: The submission of a Five College request requires the exchange of personal information with the other campus, including the student's social security number. All information is released to the host registrar only and is kept confidential as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The registration process can take several days (up to a week), depending on registration procedures at the host school, so please be patient. You can check the status of your registration request on your student dashboard in Workday. Registrations cannot be expedited for Moodle access. It is the student's responsiblity to obtain coursework from the instructor until registration is complete and Moodle access is granted at the host institution.

Approved requests: If both the Smith Registrar and the host school accept your request, the course will be added to your registration and you will see the updated status of your request as “Registered” on your student dashboard in Workday.

Denied requests: If you are not accepted into the course you will see the updated status of “Denied” with the denial reason on your student dashboard in Workday. Please email registrar@smith.edu with any questions.

Canceling requests: To cancel your Five College request, contact the Smith Registrar's Office, registrar@smith.edu

Dropping Five College courses: Once registered, you may drop a Five College course from your registration in Workday by the end of the Add/Drop period.

Grading Option

Smith will record the grade submitted by the host institution.

Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke
You must declare the S/U or P/F (pass/fail) option at the host campus, following that college's procedures and deadlines; the Smith deadline applies to Smith courses only.

UMass
You must send an email with adviser approval to registrar@smith.edu by the Smith S/U deadline.

UMass Lab Fees

For UMass courses with lab fees, UMass will bill students directly. Most labs have an associated $95 lab fee.

Language Study

Depending on the credit policies of the comparable Smith department, some introductory language courses require completion of a full year (normally two semesters) before credit is granted.

Students interested in the Five College Supervised Independent Language Program (FCSILP) must obtain permission and should consult their website for more instructions. Credit for level I courses is not awarded until completion of levels II or higher. Foreign language Latin Honors distribution is not awarded until completion of level IV or higher.